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May I Have Your Attention Please
I’m bein’ followed by a moon shadow. –Cat Stevens When was the last time you stared at the moon? Or listened to the chatter of the birds? Or the wind in the trees? What about noticing the pattern made by cracks in the sidewalk? Or the coolness of the cotton pillow beneath your head? These details of the present moment add richness to our lives. They surround us constantly…weaving in and out of our consciousness. A description of life from 30,000 feet doesn’t hold a candle to a gritty account of the details that engage all our senses. Even in response to a simple How was your day? But being here now isn’t easy in a world that is…
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What’s Your Dream?
There is a dream that many people seek. It involves a combination of houses…cars…vacations…expensive hobbies…even more expensive vices and a lucrative occupation to support it all. Sometimes it’s called the American Dream. The founding principle of this dream is fulfillment of our basic needs. This instinct, combined with the evolution of consumerism over the last century, results in the idea that things will make us happy. And if some is good, then more is better, right? The dream is so ubiquitous, at some point, we adopted it as our own. But is it? When we unknowingly move towards someone else’s expectations for our life, we may begin at a sprinter’s pace. But, sooner or later the degree…
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In the Face of Resistance
There are three paths when facing resistance…stay the course, adjust, or abort. If you spend any time with groups of humans, you are bound to be greeted with resistance. From mild indifference to out right opposition, we humans often disagree. When choosing how to go (boldly) forward, we can turn to the 23rd century engineer-cum-philosopher, Montgomery “Scotty” Scott of the USS Enterprise for wisdom… I’m giving it all she’s got, Captain! First choice, stay the course. This may feel like the most natural approach at times. After all, when you’re right, you’re right, right? Other people just need to get in line with your logic. Maybe. Or maybe not. Even when we think…
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The Sky in the Morning
It’s been said that we see what we look for. And, it’s true. For example, when you decide you want a new Jeep, it seems that only Wranglers and Rubicons fill the roads… Another way to think of this adage is that we see what we attend to. Considering the degree to which our thoughts inform our perceptions, becoming intentionally attentive is powerful. And yet, to be deeply attentive is not easy in a world of distraction. Giving our attention to one thing necessarily limits our ability to attend fully to another. Like the fallacy of multi-tasking, we simply cannot focus totally on two things at once. Even the way we talk about it, paying attention, reinforces the idea that being attentive comes…
